LITMIR.BIZ

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steered Mia toward his beat-up old pickup. One of his pack mates had left it for him on the side of the road heading back into town at his request. Walking home wasn’t going to be an option tonight.

      And neither was carrying Mia, for entirely different reasons.

      The others had peeled off one by one, eager to join the hunt for the night. Jenner couldn’t blame them. Hell, it was what he would be doing if the woman wasn’t the key to finding the feral. The thrill of the chase was one of the things he loved about his position in the pack. The Lunari always led the hunt, and often took the kill. As it was, he was stuck playing both babysitter and guard, at least for tonight. Until he knew more, Jenner wasn’t comfortable passing off the job to someone else. Wasn’t likely Mia’s erstwhile boyfriend would try and come back for her, despite her fears, but you never knew with that type. So he’d let her crash at his place, then tomorrow get her set up with one of the mated couples who had some space to spare.

      He glanced over at her, at the long waves of chocolate brown hair that glinted in the dim light, the strong, classical profile that could have been printed on a Roman coin, and thought: Early tomorrow…the sooner the better. She wasn’t Angelina Jolie.

      She was far more beautiful than that.

      Mia, thankfully, seemed oblivious to the scrutiny. Her eyes were pointed determinedly forward, as though it were taking everything she had to get where she was going. Likely it was, he knew. Her strength would return in spades, but it wouldn’t be tonight. Still, she hadn’t complained, which he hated, or cried, which he hated even more. It spoke well of her character. Hopefully she’d make a good addition to the pack, once she accepted the way things were.

      She was very lucky some of the pack had been out for a run. A few more minutes alone with her attacker and she would have been linked to a feral, cut off from anyone who could help her make a normal transition and possibly, probably, damaged beyond repair.

      The thought of it, of that faceless psycho forcing himself on her, filled Jenner with a slow burning rage. He clenched his teeth. Yeah…he wished he was still out in the woods tonight.

      “What’s wrong?”

      Jenner turned his head and was instantly caught by a pair of large almond-shaped eyes, hazel with fascinating little flecks of green. Her arms were crossed over her chest, wrapping the jacket he’d given her to cover the tattered remnants of her shirt tightly around her, like armor. It surprised him how easily she had picked up on his tension. He’d always been very good at keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself—it was part of what made him effective at his job, and a tough werewolf to crack besides. But then, Mia was different. He’d sensed it from the first.

      Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen. His instincts told him there was more to her story. But it was going to have to wait.

      “Do I look like something’s wrong?” He tried to ask it lightly, and knew it had come out sounding surly anyway. She didn’t seem fazed by it, but at this point, it didn’t surprise him. Whatever else she was, Mia was a woman with some spine…though she might have been better off being a little more intimidated by him.

      Well, he might have been better off, anyway.

      “You look like you want to kill someone,” Mia said, weary eyes regarding him in the darkness. “But as long as it’s not me, I guess it’s fine. Carry on.”

      Her sense of humor caught him by surprise, charming him. He didn’t want to be charmed. He set his jaw, determined to keep this as impersonal as possible.

      “I was just thinking about next steps,” Jenner replied. And that was true enough. “This is my truck, here. Hop in.” He led her around, opened the passenger side door for her. Mia hesitated as she peered into the dim interior of the truck, which Jenner was relieved to find was pretty clean except for an empty soda can in the cup holder.

      “I’m sorry, but…where are we going, again?” she asked, stifling a yawn mid-sentence. Her gaze was cloudy when she looked at him. Jenner didn’t expect her head to really clear until sometime tomorrow—the feral’s saliva had only been working on her for about an hour, and he’d seen with his own eyes that the initial effects of a werewolf bite could cause all manner of strange symptoms. In Mia’s case, it seemed like it was going to take her down into the inevitable deep sleep sooner rather than later.

      That was likely better for them both.

      “I’m going to take you someplace where you can get some rest for the night, remember? You’ve been through a lot. Some sleep will do you good.”

      He kept his voice casual, reasonable, and that, coupled with Mia’s fatigue, was enough to get her in the truck with little more than a resigned sigh.

      “I’m not going to wake up with fur, am I?” she asked when he’d gotten in, found the keys beneath the seat, and turned on the engine. Jenner chuckled at the expression on her face despite himself.

      “No fur. Not even a headache. Trust me, when you make your first change you won’t sleep through it.”

      “Oh, yay.”

      He snorted at the way she wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes. Pretty—yeah, she certainly was, and stubborn to boot if he’d been reading her right. The smile faded quickly when he thought of the choice Mia would have to make in the coming days.

      There were only two ways to link into a pack. Being born to at least one parent of the blood…or a joining of a much more intimate nature. It was why there were such strict rules, why packs rarely saw newcomers who weren’t already part of a love match. The bite was only part of the equation. The bond, the connection with the pack mind, would only be complete after she’d joined with a Black-paw in a physical sense, at least once.

      He didn’t want to be the one to tell her. No doubt she’d be furious, and with good reason. But the alternative was one he didn’t think she’d find acceptable, to turn feral, to lose all sense of right and wrong, all humanity. Jenner was already sure she’d have her pick of the young, single males in the pack.

      All but him. The only joining he would ever be a part of was the one he’d already gone through. That couldn’t have turned out a whole lot worse.

      Jenner frowned. He didn’t want to think about Tess tonight.

      “Oh, crap,” Mia muttered beside him.

      “To which part of the night so far?” he asked.

      “My stuff. I mean, I have stuff. At the hotel.” She shoved the heels of her palms against her eyes and growled her irritation. The noise had Jenner’s senses kicking into overdrive before he could think to try and block them, and in an instant he found himself breathing in air scented with light citrus, some sort of vanilla body wash, and beneath even that, clean, feminine skin. He could hear every breath. Every heartbeat.

      Then it was his turn to feel like growling.

      “You staying at the inn? Down the road in Greenview?” he asked instead, irritated all over again when he realized she’d had a room with the biter at a fancy, scenic, known-for-its-romance hotel, had no doubt planned on sharing a bed with the psycho…hell, maybe they were engaged, how did he know? And more important, why did he care?

      “The Sylvan Inn, yes,” Mia said, taking her hands away from her face and blowing out a breath. “God, why can’t I think?”

      “It’ll get better.”

      Jenner could feel her eyes on him, trying to bore holes in his skin, but he kept his own on the road. He needed to get it together. Hadn’t he told himself a million times to keep life simple, to avoid complications? Because he had the distinct feeling that Mia D’Alessandro could be one huge complication if he let her be.

      “Better when?”

      “Tomorrow, probably.”

      “Probably?” She managed to sound both sleepy and outraged at the same time. Jenner bit back a smirk. She was fighting the sleep

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